FRESNO, Calif. -- All good things come to an end, including five game win streaks. In the opening game of PacWest conference play, pre-season favorite Fresno Pacific ended the Urban Knights longest winning streak in program history with a 1-0 defeat.

"I think the best part of where we're at is that we could all easily be satisfied with the fact that we played with the pre-season favorite," said head coach Chris King. "But we're not."

Defense and goalkeeping were the highlights of Monday night's PacWest showdown. From the moment the game kicked off it was evident senior goalkeeper Morgan Wirz would play a large part in the outcome. Wirz and the Urban Knights defense fended off nine shots in the first 20 minutes of the game, including three saves by the senior keeper.

It would take the Sunbirds another 15 minutes before they were able to infiltrate ART U's defenses and put a ball past Wirz to take the lead 1-0.

Three minutes after the score, Academy of Art was on the attack as junior forward Jenny Wittor took a shot wide of the goal.

"We had some really great looks on goal even if we didn't finish," said King.

The Urban Knights went into the half down 1-0.

ART U came out of the breather rejuvenated and were immediately awarded back to back corner kicks in the 47th minute. Junior defender Mikayla Lopez took both corners and on the second, freshman midfielder Avica Robings put a shot on goal to force a save.

In the second half the Urban Knights successfully defended against the Sunbirds strong attacking front and did not allow a goal the entire period.

But the one would be enough, as ART U could not penetrate FPU's defenses and dropped the match 1-0 to end their five game win streak.

"We've set the expectation for the season, and it's not that we just want to be better than we were or respected. This group is expecting to legitimately compete in the PacWest and they're proving they can do that," said King.

With the loss, Academy of Art drops to 5-2-0 overall and 0-1-0 in PacWest play. The Urban Knights will look to spark another streak Saturday, Sept. 22 at Dominican. Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. in San Rafael.